Promise of the Gods
by PTBvisiongrrl
Summary: Why does Lee keep dreaming about Kara?


**FIC TITLE**: Promise of the Gods

_One-Shot for now; I may pick it up again during the hiatus, once I've finished my other fics. Until then, it's complete._

**Author**- PTBvisiongrrl

**Part-** 1/1

**Date-** 3-25-07

**Rating** – R (MOSTLY FOR LANGUAGE)

**Pairings/Characters**- Lee/Kara, of course!!!!

**Word Count- **1309

**Category-** Short Story

**Genre-** Angst

**Archiving-** The Fallout Shelter, Apollo/Starbuck Fan Fic, All others please ask!

**Warnings-** Not really- just language…

**Spoilers-** THROUGH RUMORS OF SEASON THREE FINALE, not yet aired

**Disclaimers-** _Unfortunately, I don't own any of these characters, and make absolutely no profit from taking them out to play…_

**Summary- **Lee keeps having dreams of Kara's death.

Lee woke up breathless, sweating, and heart-sore from the dream again. The same damned dream he had been having at least twice a week since Kara-

He swallowed heavily, and made himself mentally say the words. _Since Kara died_.

The dreams had become more frequent since the fight with his father and Dee leaving.

In his dream, he and Starbuck were flying those blue skies again, playing viper games and just enjoying crazy maneuvers for the hell of it. The banter between them was relaxed and friendly, not tense and uncomfortable as it had been in reality for the last few months. The sky began to darken and suddenly she was saying those fateful words, "_I'm not afraid anymore. I'll see you on the other side. Just let me go._" Then he saw flames and bits of twisted metal spiraling through his airspace as her bird exploded with her in it. This was where the dream began to differ. Some nights, Kara would appear wandering in the Elysian Fields, happy and laughing and whole in a way she had never appeared to Lee in life. Other nights, twisted, burned pieces of her body would float in space along with her shredded viper. In this version, he always saw that damn marriage tattoo on the arm floating past his canopy.

Tonight, when the imprint of the flaming viper faded from his eyelids and he opened those eyes, he found Kara sitting on the side of his bed, staring at him. He was torn between grabbing her into his arms and reaching for his sidearm; he settled for drinking in every detail of his hallucination. "What the frak? Kara? Is that really you?"

That laughing, almost-smile smile of hers played on her lips. She blinked rapidly a few times, looking over his shoulder, before looking directly into his deep blue eyes, so like a Caprican sky. She asked, "So what have you been up to, Lee?"

Seeing her there, so very much like the Kara he remembered, he slipped back into old patterns. Flippantly, wanting to see her full laugh, he half-joked, "Defending the scourge of humanity."

Her eyes widened, and then she chuckled. "You? Defending Baltar? I'm not happy about that, Lee, but I'm not surprised, either. I know you have good reasons." She paused, weighing words. "So how's the Old Man taking it?"

Lee's heart swelled. She wasn't angry; she understood, without him explaining. "About as well as you would expect. He's more unhappy that I resigned my commission."

"What?" Kara asked, startled. "What do you mean, you resigned your commission?"

Lee felt a little deflated at her reaction to his leaving the military, but explained. "He blamed me for something I didn't do; I defended myself, and he didn't believe me. I said that I couldn't serve under a man who questioned my integrity, and he said he didn't want an officer without any. I handed him my insignia and left."

Stunned was the best way he could describe Kara's facial expression. "Oh, Lee. I'm sorry, and I'm mad. You two certainly know how to go for each others' throats. I guess I've forgotten that. " She stood up to pace, and Lee reached out to pull her back down.

His hand passed through hers, and he jumped back, eyes wild. "What are you, Kara?"

She sat back down on his rack, and he noticed that he didn't move at all under her weight. He hadn't been paying enough attention before. She had looked and sounded real enough. She seemed to be weighing her words carefully. "I'm not a ghost, Lee. I'm not dead. I'm just not- here, right now."

"What the frak does that mean?" Lee spat out at her, suddenly worried for his sanity. "What have you been up to, Kara, since you exploded?"

Kara made sure to look him directly in the eyes. "**I** didn't explode. I got that mother-frakker, I ejected, and then my **viper** exploded. I can't explain how, but I've been trying to find Earth."

"What the frak are you talking about, Kara? I saw your ship blow up. If it didn't, well, we didn't pick you up, and if you were out there in that storm without a ship, you'd have been dead in no more than four hours. You need to explain to me how _that_, and" he motioned between them, "_this_, happened."

"This is my destiny, Lee." Kara looked tinier and more frightened that he thought possible, and at the same time more sure of herself and at peace than he had ever seen her. "I am special. Or was, I guess. I'm still not certain, myself."

"Why are you tormenting me? Why can't I stop dreaming of you?" The emotion in his voice brought tears to Kara's eyes and made his words sound strangled.

A long pause. "I can't tell you, exactly. Not yet."

Lee lost his fragile hold on himself and yelled at the- apparition? Spirit? "Not yet? What the frak does that mean?"

"I've been sent back to you, Lee. The Gods gave me a destiny, a mission. I am supposed to help the fleet find Earth." She took a deep breath. "I need you to do this, Lee. And I need you as the CAG to do it."

Staring at her like she had lost her mind- because he was beginning to think that the strain of the trial had caused him to loose his, and since she was a figment of his imagination, she must be mad, too- "Well, then your plan is already frakked. Even if I asked, my father won't take me back."

"Give him a chance to calm down and think things over, Lee. The Old Man will understand, eventually. I just hope that he doesn't take too long." She gave him a long, considering look. "And when you ask him, make sure that you take that stick out of your ass. Don't go all high and mighty. You might even want to apologize."

The annoyance in his voice was audible. "Why is it so important that I go back?"

"I have information for you to pass on, to use." Here she really smiled, a broad one. "I wouldn't tell anyone where you got it from, but trust me, it's reliable. The Gods want us to find Earth."

"The Gods may have to find another way," Lee stated bitterly. "I don't want to go back." He sounded petulant.

"Frak, Lee. That's going to make this a lot more difficult." She got up now and began pacing. "Do you think you could-" she looked hesitant. "Would Dee help you to pass on information, in a way that no one realizes that it's being passed on?"

"Doubtful." Lee scrubbed his face with his hand. "She left."

"What?" Kara stopped mid-pace. "She left you?"

"She used the trial as an excuse. I think-" Lee looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "I think that she got tired of playing second, especially to a dead woman."

Kara caught her breath. "I love you, too, Lee. I think I always have, and always will. I'm sorry that she left, and I've screwed things up for you again."

"Things seem to be back on track now, Kara." Lee sighed tiredly. "I'm happier with a ghost than my live wife."

"I'm not a ghost, Lee." She bit her lip in that endearing way she had. "I will be back, if you help me. I've been- promised."

"By who? The Gods?" Lee lay back on his rack, feeling drained and too sleepy to keep his eyes open anymore. "I don't believe in the Gods." He barely felt a momentary brush of her soft, full lips against his forehead.

"I believe enough for the both of us," she whispered as sleep overtook Lee and his world went dark.


End file.
